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Linemen Travel to Hard-Hit Areas to Restore Hurricane Dorian Outages

Tropical-force winds and heavy rains have caused outages across the Carolinas as Hurricane Dorian progresses. This update from the Department of Energy gives a snapshot of the current restoration process.

Hurricane Dorian decimated the Bahamas before inflicting outages in Florida and threatening the Carolinas. In response, mutual assistance crews from more than 36 states and the District of Columbia are pre-positioning workers throughout the potentially impacted region, according to a report from the Department of Energy (DOE).

While the hurricane is still underway, here is a snapshot of outages as stated by the DOE as of 2 p.m. on Sept. 5.

Georgia: 4,097 outages (-75% since 8 a.m. EDT on Sept. 5)

South Carolina: 241,869 (+22% since 8 a.m. EDT)

North Carolina: 5,782 (+33% since 8 a.m. EDT)

In its 11th situation report since Hurricane Dorian began, the DOE also gave an overview of the restoration efforts by the affected utilities in the Carolinas and Georgia. Here is a rundown of the outages and the field response in these areas.

South Carolina Investor-Owned UtilitiesDominion Energy South Carolina (DESC) (formerly South Carolina Electric & Gas)
• DESC outages are concentrated primarily in the Charleston area. Crews are performing damage assessments as conditions permit.
• DESC has received 700 additional all-system crews from the Southeastern Electric Exchange, complementing 2,000 field employees already in position.
• On September 4, Dominion Energy contract crews from Tennessee were staged in Colleton County, South Carolina, in preparation for future storm response.
• DESC has secured three helicopters for future damage assessment and restoration. The company also has over 2,000 company and on-system contract resources and 140 contract line workers and tree contractors ready to assist with future restoration efforts.

Duke Energy Carolinas
• Although Duke Energy Carolinas anticipates restoring power to some customers on the afternoon of Sept. 5, some customer outages will not have an estimated restoration time until storm impacts become more certain.
• Duke Energy Carolinas projects some customers in the coastal Carolinas, including the Pee Dee and Triangle regions, could experience extended outages, depending on the track.
• Workers from Duke Energy’s Midwest contingent are traveling to the Carolinas to assist with future power restoration. As of 1 p.m. on September 4, about 1,500 workers from Duke Energy and partner utilities had arrived in Florence, South Carolina, to assist with storm response. Resources will be moved from Florence to impacted regions on September 6 as needed.
• As of September 3, Duke Energy Carolinas reports that nearly 9,000 field personnel are ready to respond to Hurricane Dorian in the Carolinas.

South Carolina Municipal, State, and Cooperative UtilitiesBerkeley Electric Cooperative (BEC)
• As of noon EDT Sept. 5, power outages are occurring across the BEC service area, including outages at two of the utility’s district offices. BEC crews are on standby due to high winds, with no estimate for when power will be restored to customers experiencing outages.
• Berkeley Electric is coordinating mutual aid plans with other cooperatives and has nearly 100 additional outside crew members on standby to assist with future restoration efforts.

Santee Cooper (South Carolina Public Service Authority)
• Nine crews are working to restore power, with 35 additional crews arriving September 5 and 6 to help with restoration.
• As of 9 a.m., there were reports of many downed utility lines across Horry County.
• On September 4, mutual aid crews from Tennessee, Georgia and Florida arrived in Santee Cooper’s service area to assist with restoration efforts.

Edisto Electric Cooperative
• As of 1:30 p.m. EDT Sept. 5, Edisto is working to repair damaged equipment at the Dorchester substation. Once these repairs are complete and the circuits in the substation are reenergized, Edisto Electric Coop anticipates that power will be restored to many homes in the Ridgeville area.
• As of 10 a.m. EDT Sept. 5, Edisto reported that the majority of the outages in its service region were due to loss of transmission service to substations from Santee Cooper. Crews from Edisto and Santee Cooper are working to restore service to the affected substations.

Palmetto Electric Cooperative
• Palmetto Electric Cooperative crews are actively responding to outages.
• Earlier in the day on September 5, Palmetto experienced outages on Hilton Head Island due to a downed tree on a transmission line. Power was restored to Hilton Head as of 10:15 a.m. EDT.

North Carolina Investor-Owned Utilities Duke Energy Carolinas
•1,500 crews are located at a staging area at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, North Carolina, and will be dispatched to restore power in the hardest-hit areas when it is safe to do so.
•Although Duke Energy Carolinas anticipates restoring power to some customers on the afternoon of September 5, some customer outages will not have an estimated restoration time until storm impacts become more certain.
• Duke Energy projects some customers in the coastal Carolinas, including in the Pee Dee and Triangle regions, could experience extended outages, depending on the track.
• Workers from Duke Energy’s Midwest contingent are traveling to the Carolinas to assist with future power restoration. Crews are staging in the Raleigh area and will be mobilized to impacted areas on Friday, September 6, as needed.
• As of September 3, Duke Energy Carolinas reports that nearly 9,000 field personnel are ready to respond to Hurricane Dorian in the Carolinas.

Georgia Investor-Owned UtilitiesGeorgia Power
• Georgia Power is moving crews from across the state to help with power restoration along the Georgia coast. As of 1 p.m. EDT Sept. 5, Georgia Power reports over 250 individual cases of storm-related damage, including broken utility poles, downed lines and scattered outages.

Georgia Municipal and Cooperative Utilities
• As of Sept. 4, Electric Cities of Georgia deployed and staged crews in South Carolina and Georgia to satisfy mutual aid requests. In South Carolina, Electric Cities of Georgia crews were deployed to help Santee Cooper with restoration efforts.
• The Coastal Electric Members Cooperative announced that, as of 11 a.m. EDT Sept. 5, power had been restored to all customers in the Coastal Electric service area.